Radiant Happiness
by Emmeebee
Summary: While spending time with her five-year-old son at the local park, Merope reflects on the amazing person he is going to become.


A/N: Written for the Family Challenge and for QLFC R12 by Chaser 1 of Pride of Portree.

Prompt: Write a FLUFFY SLICE OF LIFE story about THE GAUNT FAMILY

Optional prompts: (word) radiant, (word) valour, (song) I Won't Say I'm In Love - Disney's Hercules Soundtrack

This is an AU in which Merope survived to become an unreliable narrator for all things Tom Riddle. Also, for the purposes of full disclosure… I'm actually Team Instinct, not Team Valour. *hides*

Thank you to my wonderful teammates for betaing this for me.

Word count: 919

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Merope lay back against the trunk of a tree, basking in the warmth of the summer sun. Her five-year-old son sat next to her, fiddling with the wooden puzzle she had given him for his birthday. Tom had dismantled the strange structure, and his eyebrows were creased in concentration as he tried to work out how to put all of the pieces back together again. Her chest filled with pride as he managed to fit two of the serrated rectangular blocks into place. _My clever boy._

It was hard to believe that once upon a time, she had been ready to let it all go. Alone and with nothing but bad memories of her childhood, she had been determined to leave her little boy at the orphanage, severing all ties to her past life. But the place had been so bad that she'd been convinced that he was better off with her, no matter how poorly equipped she might have been for motherhood. Still, after the way his father had left her, she had sworn that she would never fall in love again, deciding that no one was worth the tears and aggravation that inevitably came from it. But then she had gotten to know Tom, and her whole world had changed. Within two weeks of his birth, she had abandoned all attempts to keep him at a distance, freely admitting that she was head over heels for him.

Merope peered down at the boy with a soft smile, her heart full of love for him. His short brown hair had a slight curl to it, just like his father's, and his eyes were sharp and intelligent. She could see the Gaunt in him — in the turn of his nose, his fondness for snakes, and the occasional hints of accidental magic — but, for the most part, he just looked like a Riddle. If she had anything to say about it, however, he would be much more devoted and loving than her ex-husband had ever been.

 _He's the best of both of us,_ she thought, _and he will be better than either of us._

Somewhere in the branches far above her head, a bird sang its sweet melody. It was an ode to peace and happiness, and she joined in, whistling along to the merry tune.

"I did it!" Tom announced, much earlier than she had expected. He held out the completed puzzle for her to inspect.

She leant towards him and examined his work as if it were made of pure gold. It looked as good as new — better, even, since she knew that he'd had a hand in making it. "Wow! You did such a good job. And you were so very fast, too!"

He beamed at her, his face shining and radiant, and it was like the sun coming out on the first day of spring. It was a smile that could charm strangers and inspire nations. Most parents thought that their child was the most precious creature in the world, but they had never met her Tom. One day, she knew, he would have the entire world wrapped around his little finger. Just like she was.

"I want a story," he said, so she put the puzzle away and pulled a book of adventure stories out of her backpack.

The spine was lined with faint creases and the cover was flimsy from overuse, but her hands were gentle as she rested it on her lap and flipped to the first page. It was one of their favourites, a tale of loyalty and valour, of love and bravery — of everything she wanted him to grow up to be.

 _You're my hero,_ she thought. _I thought your father was going to be my knight in shining armour. He wasn't, but maybe_ you _are._

As she read to him, he snuggled into her side, peering down at the open pages with wide-eyed wonder. Her words were disjointed and hesitant — she knew how to read, but it didn't come naturally to her — but he didn't seem to notice. Rangers hunted and wizards duelled and fighters clashed, all within the pages that lay open before them. Before long, they were immersed in a fantasy world so far from their own yet, she knew, entirely within the realm of possibility. And Tom sat beside her, hanging onto her every word.

One day, she knew, he would learn to read without her help. Then, he would go to Hogwarts and learn all sorts of amazing and wondrous things, things that she had never had the chance to learn. They would be the last of the Gaunts and the first of the Riddles, and he would carve out his own place in that large and terrifying world. And he would excel. For now, however, he was hers and hers alone.

"And they all lived happily ever after," she finished, closing the book with a theatrical flourish.

He frowned down at the closed book. "Allie said happily ever afters aren't real."

"Allie also thinks magic isn't real, but we both know better than that, don't we?" Merope ran a hand through his thick hair, watching as his expression lightened at her reply. She would have to speak to the babysitter about what constituted appropriate topics for conversation with her son, but she wasn't concerned. No matter how much the world might try to corrupt him, he would always be her perfect baby boy. "And as for happily ever afters… Well, I live mine every day."

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A/N: The wooden puzzle Tom is playing with is modelled off one my cousin and I once spent a whole evening struggling with before settling for loose-and-misshapen-but-technically-together. Five-year-old Tom, of course, nails what two twenty-two-year-olds couldn't.


End file.
